There’s a counter-revolution afoot. The youth have discovered classic leather shoes. Why this is the case is open to interpretation, but one theory has it that since Dad started wearing trainers, Junior is increasingly concerned about looking like him.
Manolo Blahnik, who is famous for his women’s shoes but has also been making shoes for men for decades, says he is delighted with this development. “When I started designing men’s shoes in the 1970s, it was for people like David Hockney and Bryan Ferry,” he explains. “In those days men always dressed with impeccable style, always wearing the most beautiful suits and exquisite shoes. Then came the obsession of young people with trainers, trainers everywhere.” Blahnik is not a fan. “I never liked them,” he says. “Trainers are good for one thing only: running in the forest or perhaps on a beach. If you must wear them, you should wear old-fashioned tennis shoes or topsiders. Anyway, I am thrilled people will stop wearing them all the time — visually I find them clumpy and heavy.”
James Fox of Crockett & Jones reports that the Northampton shoemaker, founded in 1879 and specialising in traditional leather styles, is seeing a change when it comes to its customers. “I’ve been here for 15 years, and I’d say our customers are now ten years younger than they used to be. Guys in their twenties and thirties are after classics.” And what does he put this down to? “Classics never die. A five-eyelet plain-front derby will always exist — you just have to get the customer to discover it. I think younger people have found us on social media, particularly through observing the Asian trend for wearing quality traditional shoes, and as a consequence of high-fashion menswear brands introducing leather shoes into their collections again: derby brogues and plain-front bluchers are coming back.”
One can only assume that the belief that classic leather shoes would never go out of style was the reason why the Prada Group bought a Northampton shoemaker. Church & Co (founded in 1873 by Thomas Church), which goes by the more familiar name Church’s today, was acquired by the Italian luxury company in 1999. It makes precisely the kind of footwear that Fox is talking about. The Shannon plain lace-up derby blucher — a style that’s been well received since its introduction by the business in 1970 — comes in several different leathers, including a bookbinder brown with a fumè finish. A distinctive feature is the hand-stitched half-moon detailing on the eyestays. Still made in Northampton, there’s nothing remotely Italian about it. Or about the firm’s new loafers collection, which definitely errs on the side of elegant, smart and metropolitan rather than slouchy, casual and beach promenade. Handmade in both smooth and pebbled leather, there are a variety of styles, including the Kingsley tasselled loafer and Milford penny loafer. All are manufactured at Church’s factory in the Midlands.
At Savile Row’s Richard James — whose shoes, incidentally, are made by Crockett & Jones — the managing director, Sean Dixon, agrees. “Proper leather shoes are being worn again,” he says. “That sneaker thing, well, that certainly seems less important now. We work with Crockett & Jones and have done for 30 years — they have a special last [form] for us, special designs, and the hybrid loafer in leather or suede we developed with them years ago is still our bestselling shoe. Importantly, if you buy shoes from a great Northampton maker they’re comfortable.”
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Type “trainer” into the search function on Crockett & Jones’s website and you draw a blank. Ditto at Edward Green, a fellow Northampton shoemaker. Both firms have so far refused to pivot towards sports shoes, although Euan Denholm, the head of brand at 134-year-old Edward Green, says that the days when his customers would look down their noses at a pair of trainers are long gone. “I’m sure our customers wear them on occasion,” he says. “But I do understand why people want to push back against the ubiquity of hypercasualisation.” He cites the continued popularity of the cap-toe Oxford, an elegant formal shoe, as evidence of this, as well as strong sales of smart loafers.
“You really feel the effect of the shoes you’ve got on,” says Denholm. “Instead of the soft sponginess of a trainer, with a harder-soled shoe you have the coolness of a piece of leather that is moulded to your feet. Leather-soled shoes affect the way you walk and hold yourself. They bring a sort of purpose and confidence.”
Denholm acknowledges that Edward Green shoes may be a bit pricey for the younger generation (its shoes start at about £1,000) but points out that there is a brisk trade in second-hand classic shoes, which he sees as catering to an aesthetic that is gaining momentum among the young and stylish. “What is apparent if you look at street-style photography is that men in their twenties and thirties are drawn to beautiful heritage makers, the non-fashion firms that just make great-quality pieces.”
It’s easy to see how quality would become the defining thing here. The vintage market is all about well-made pieces, as anything shoddily put together won’t have stayed the course. And shoes, perhaps more than most wardrobe items, can survive for years. “They do last because of the leather,” Denholm says. “It’s the opposite of a shirt — when a shirt is worn through it’s worn through. But when a shoe is worn through you resole it.”
He explains that in Edward Green’s workshop they witness this in action, as customers send their prized shoes in for refurbishment. “You see them coming back. We had a pair of Galways come in the other day bought in Glasgow in the 1960s. Literally hobnail boots, still owned by the original purchaser.” Because of this longevity, he says, you find “old EGs” for sale all over the world. “In Japan there’s a thriving resale market and in New York there’s a great shoe store we supply called Leffot on Christopher Street [in Manhattan], which sells what they call pre-owned shoes.”
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Manolo Blahnik feels that it’s only right and proper that a new generation should be drawn to classic footwear. “The feet should be light and beautifully dressed, not burdened with these visually heavy trainers,” he says. “Lightness and comfort have always been essential in my design process. My shoes have old-fashioned values that are not impacted by the constant moves in fashion. I can’t wait to see a new era of well-dressed men.”
So whether they are buying them new or second hand, it seems that young men are starting to vote with their feet for a return to more formal footwear. Whether their fathers will follow suit remains to be seen.
manoloblahnik.com; crockettandjones.com; richard-james.com; edwardgreen.com
